The most important event on the 11th February came in 1888 with the first match to be played on the new Parkside enclosure. Only a short amount of time was available to get the new ground fit for purpose and costs would be upwards of £300 which the club did not have, so a team of volunteers had put in the hard graft to level the playing area, prepare the enclosure, relocate the grandstand and generally get the new ground ready for this first match. Amazingly, all the work was done in two weeks, and the ground was ready on the 11th February (many thanks to Steve Calline for this info ). Mirfield were the first visitors and a victory was secured by 1 try to nil, the try being scored by Matt Carr.
2009 saw the debuts of three Papua New Guinea players, enterprisingly secured by the club. Charlie Wabo was a Papua New Guinea international forward having played against England, France and New Zealand. He would also gain caps while a Hunslet player.
Nico Slain was also an international forward, having played against Australia and France.
Michael Mark was a winger who had also gained caps against France.
They were all with the club for two seasons but only Michael made much of a contribution to the 2010 promotion campaign, scoring 16 tries in 21 matches.
2007 saw the debut of Matt Bramald. Matt made 41 appearances in two seasons, scoring 8 tries and 28 goal. He returned in 2016 to coach the first team.
In 1961, a hooker secured from Leeds for £3,500 made his debut. Bernard Prior went on to play in the two Yorkshire Cup finals and the 1965 Wembley final before moving to Wakefield Trinity in 1966 after 147 appearances. He gained a Great Britain cap in 1965/66 against France.
Forward Mick Hughes, having signed from Hull Kingston Rovers for £8,000, made his debut today in 1979. Over three seasons he made 66 appearances, scoring 13 tries.
